Previously I talked about the 80/20 rule of optimizing invoices which we were told during our initial implementation. We were advised that we only had to optimize 20 to 30 invoice definitions (yes the consultant was referring to an absolute number not a percentage) to cover 80% of our invoices. I think the old 80/20 analogy gets used a bit too much these days even when it is used correctly (i.e. 20%).

If you want to approximate how many invoice definitions cover 80% of your invoices, then here is a quick test:

1. Open Invoice Definitions in Optimize2. Sort by All Time Total so highest number on top3. Select All and Ctrl C4. Open Excel and Ctrl V (now you have the data to perform the stats on!)5. Take a note of the number of lines in your spreadsheet (-1 is the number of IDs you have)6. Put a grand total on the All-Time-Total column7. Calculate 80% of the grand total8. Insert a column to the right of All-time-total (I inserted column K)9. Insert a formula in row 3 of the new column (note our all-time-total is in column J): =sum(j3+j2)10. Insert a formula in row 4 of the new column and copy it down =sum(k3+j4) to get a running total11. Looking at the running total. At what line do you get to the 80% you calculated at #7? (its line 604 for us)12. Take this number (e.g. 604) and divide by the number of lines in your spreadsheet

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